Haridwar does every 12 years. Like an adolescent, this temple town on
the Ganga suddenly develops an angry rash of orange spots.

The rash has struck again this year. Actually a tidal wave of orange
has flowed into Haridwar. Some 20,000 sadhus -- or holy men -- all
traditionally clad in shades of saffron, have swamped the town for
an event that is touted to be the largest religious gathering on the
planet -- the legendary Kumbh Mela.

The steady human stream of vibrant orange began trickling into Haridwar
from January 14, when the mela began. Now
sadhus -- with their long rumpled beards and unruly dreadlocks
coiled atop their heads -- could be spotted everywhere.

Knots of sadhus, swathed in orange, roam the neighbourhoods,
playing the tourist, visiting each quaint Haridwar temple and tiny
shrine. Holy men pop in and out of the chota das paisa
souvenir shops bargain hunting -- maybe for a better trishul
or mala. Sanyasins -- the feminine variety -- draped in pale saffron head towards the ghats for a walk. Novice sadhus -- little lads of 10 or 11 wrapped in orange cotton and wood ash -- are
out learning how to survive.

"This is our festival. It is a sant's mela," explains Shree
Mahant Meerapuri, a senior sanyasin from Nahan, Himachal
Pradesh. Meerapuri is one of the thousand odd sanyasins who have
come for the Kumbh.

The Kumbh Mela is the place to be, this
season, for India's fascinating legion of saffron-habited monks. They
have come off the buses. Off trains. On foot. From all corners of
India. And from as far afield as Australia, Germany,
Nepal, Switzerland, USA. From ashrams and mandirs. From remote Himalayan
caves, forests and lonely mountain locations where many have been in
meditation for years together.

Haridwar's special position in the Hindu universe arose thus:
The devtas -- the gods -- and the rakshasas -- demons -- were quarrelling for 12
days over an earthen pot of amrit (nectar of immortality).
Vishnu, the great preserver, bore it away from the site of the tussle
and was flying along the heavens, carrying the pot. In his hurry
four priceless drops of nectar fell at Allahabad, Haridwar, Nashik and Ujjain. These tirthas -- liteally holy places -- acquired a reputation where earthly beings could wash
their sins away and 'cross' over into the other world.

To celebrate the anointment of these four holy places, a Kumbh Mela
is held every three years at one of these cities, in rotation. The
sacred time this year was meticulously ascertained from the movement of
the planets and stars and after rounds of painstaking number crunching
by astrologers and pandits. A series of auspicious
bathing dates were released so that devout Hindus could gather for the
12 Great Baths when it is believed that the waters of the Ganga turn to amrit.

The ritual baths are gala occasions for the sadhus and probably have been so for the last thousand years or so (there is some evidence that Kumbh Melas have
been held since the second century BC). The sadhus march down to
the banks of the Ganga from dawn in massive colourful processions.
Stampedes and subsequent anarchy are staved off -- not always successfully -- by the
police, armed with walkie talkies, rifles, whistles and batons. Sadhus
flow towards the banks of the river in a a giant undulating orange wave.

The intense, ferocious-looking Nagas -- the naked sadhus
who have given up everything in life including their clothes -- lead the
charge into the water, their bodies caked with ash. And in order of
hierarchy the acharyas, sants and mata sants follow
suit. Despite all the precautions, this giant bathing ceremony has more than its usual quotient of pandemonium.

During many months in this quiet town, there has been hectic
activity in the sadhu world. Apart from the colourful
ceremonies that the sadhus choreograph at the ghats on
the bathing days, matters of leadership, politics, needed to be
debated over. It's time for plenty of gup-shup, religious
discourse, inter-akhara discussions and for serious worship.

The sadhus also receive a number of visitors at the tent townships where they live. Locals and outsiders who have come to Haridwar for the Kumbh seek their blessings and advice. And, of course, the sadhus performing penance attract awed and respectful bystanders.

Bal Bhagwan Bhupendra Giri is a hit this Kumbh. This 12-year-old boy has been
standing since he was three. He sleeps and eats standing and has not sat
down or lay down since 1989. He plans to continue standing till he is
15. He hails from Muzzafarnagar in western Uttar Pradesh and was gifted to the
akhara as part of a promise his parents made at his birth. Says
his foster sadhu father proudly, "When he was three he came to
me and said he was not going to sleep. He said, 'You sleep'. And he
didn't sleep for several days. And he has been standing since."

Something of an unruly kid, he is the pride of his sadhu seniors
and has his own minder. Crowds gather to watch his antics as he dances about on his bow legs and romps on his swing which is the only support for his calves that have not been flexed for the last 3,300 days. "What do I think of the Kumbh Mela? It is gooood (he
practises his English). Even if you spend Rs 100,000,000 you won't
get the darshan of so many sadhus in one place except
at the Kumbh."